Theory of Proletarian Party

The theory of political parties representing the interests and the will of the proletariat.

In the 1830s and 1840s, with the deepening of the proletarian movement, there was an urgent need to establish a revolutionary party armed with advanced scientific theories, established according to a strict organizational system, and capable of providing the workers’ movement with the correct programme of action and tactics as the core and leader of the workers’ movement. In the practice of guiding the workers’ movement, Marx and Engels gradually accumulated the experience of establishing a proletarian party. They founded historical materialism and laid a theoretical foundation for the establishment of proletarian political parties. At the same time, by propagating scientific theory of communism, they also criticized sectarianism, utopianism, etc. which hindered the development of the workers’ movement at that time, which greatly raised the consciousness of Communists and revolutionaries in various countries. The Communist Manifesto, published in 1848, is the programme written by Marx and Engels for the world’s first international proletarian party, the Communist League. It is also the first scientific work to comprehensively explain the theory of proletarian party. In this work, Marx and Engels comprehensively expounded the nature, the theoretical principles and the programme of action of proletarian parties, which marked the birth of the theory of proletarian party. In the epoch of imperialism and proletarian revolution, closely combining the practice of revolution and construction in Russia, Lenin further enriched the theory of proletarian party and founded the theory of proletarian party of a new type under the guidance of Marxism. Lenin’s theories such as the principle of democratic centralism, the principle of criticism and self-criticism, and the construction of the advanced nature of the party are all significant contributions to the Marxist theory of proletarian party. After the founding of New China, the CPC’s ideas of the strengthening the Party’s ideological construction, of its close ties with the masses, the multi-party co-operation system under the leadership of the CPC, etc. are enrichments and developments of the Marxist theory of proletarian party.

The main contents of the theory of proletarian party are: (1) The nature of proletarian party. The proletarian party is the highest form of organization of the proletariat, representing the fundamental interests and class will of the proletariat. It is the vanguard of the proletariat, composed of the advanced elements of the class, and the most loyal and conscious part of the class. It takes Marxism as its guiding thought, according to which it formulates correct lines, guidelines and policies, and takes the abolition of classes, the emancipation of all mankind and ultimate realization of communism as its goal of struggle. (2) The roles of proletarian party. Educational role: the workers’ movement cannot spontaneously produce revolutionary theory. It needs to be instilled by the party from without, that is, propaganda, education and guidance, in order to move from spontaneity to self-consciousness. Without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement. The role of vanguard fighter can be fulfilled only by a party that is guided by the most advanced theory. Organizational role: Only by integrating and concentrating dispersed forces can we form a united, unified and combat-ready political force. Leadership role: First of all, it is embodied in the political leadership of the proletarian revolutionary cause, the definition of the path, the pointing of the direction, the correct handling of the relationship between the masses, the class, the political party and the leaders, reliance on the pioneering role of party members, and driving the proletariat and the people to strive for the realization of the great cause of the party. (3) The organizational principle of proletarian party, i.e., the principle of democratic centralism. Democratic centralism is the dialectical unity of “democracy” and “centralism”, centralism on the basis of democracy and democracy guided by centralism. On the one hand, on the basis of fully carrying forward democracy, the opinions of the vast majority of party members should be concentrated as much as possible to ensure the correctness of a party’s decision-making; on the other hand, the party is an organic whole, only through centralized leadership and by ensuring the unity of thought and of action, can a party play its role as a fighting fortress.

The theory of proletarian party is an important part of Marxist theory and a theoretical ground for guiding the building of a proletarian party.